The Gibeonites God Cared

God Cares about the nations

David Avenges the Gibeonites

2 Samuel 21

1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Sa 21:1–2.

Genesis 10 Table of Nations

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

Re 7:9–10. (ESV) 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

The Call of Abram Gen.:12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 12:1–3.

Genesis 15:13–16 (NKJV)

13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land

that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them

four hundred years.

14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.

16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here,

for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

He did not do away with the Moral Law

Matthew 5:17 (ESV): 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

In the same way, God did not dismiss the Moral Law He did not alter His care for nations. In fact, He shows His care for nations throughout the New Testament.

- God reaffirms borders and boundaries in 

Acts 17:26.

Acts 17:26 (ESV): 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

- God commands us to pray for our leaders in

 1 Timothy 2:1-2.

1Timothy 2:1–2 (ESV): 2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

- God established governments for nations in Romans 13:1.

Romans 13:1 (ESV): 13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

- God used His Son Jesus to correct the political leaders of His day in

 Matthew21:23-32.

- God commands us to pay taxes to the government in Matthew 22:21.

Matthew 22:21 (ESV): 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

- God commands us to submit to the leaders of our nation in Romans 13:2.

Romans 13:2 (ESV): 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

God granted private property through the government in 

Acts 2:45; 5:4.

The most obvious reference to nations in the New Testament is when Jesus commands His followers to make disciples of “all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20).

The word nations (ethnōs) can be translated “all ethnic groups.” The term doesn't exclude borders but reaffirms it.

Not only does God still care about nations under the New Covenant, He has given us clear instructions on how they are to operate

(Romans 13:3-4).

Therefore, if nations are commanded to do good and not bad, it is logical that there must be a curse for doing bad and a blessing for doing good. This is how we know God still deals with nations who heed or ignore His commands.

We see in Acts 12:23 that Herod, a King of Judea, not only

Jesus Cleanses the Temple Mk 11:15–19. (ESV)

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mk 11:15–19.

in any case, it’s not for us to figure out if a nation’s good has outweighed its bad in terms of Gods dealing with a nation. Our job is to stand up for righteousness and call for repentance and change to unrighteousness.

Because God doesn’t deal with nations in an eternal sense as He does individuals, He deals with them on this side of Heaven. This means we need to do all we can to promote good not just as individuals, but also for the nation God has made us citizens of.

TIMOTHY KELLER

The former talks about racial and economic justice, but is quiet about the biblical teaching on subjects such as abortion, sexuality, and gender. The latter condemns sexual immorality and secularism in the strongest terms but grows silent when its political allies fan the flames of racial resentment toward immigrants. When the church, in the name of political power, allies and aligns too much with the current secular left or right, it is sapped of both spiritual power and credibility with nonbelievers. Theologically, both political poles are suspect, because one makes an idol out of individual freedom, and the other makes an idol out of race and nation, blood and soil. In both something created and earthly is deified. Extreme progressivism detaches individuals from community and history and any concept of virtue, but the nationalism and racism that might replace it are no answer to it.